aia:a new generation of leaders emerge

mystarjob.com, Saturday 18 April 2015
ACCELERATED GROWTH
E
VEN to a casual observer, the
recent transformation of AIA,
an insurance company that has
been in Malaysia since 1948,
is admirable. All the more
commendable is the 34% increase in
new business profits that AIA Malaysia
reported against the backdrop of a twoyear complex integration process.
In many ways, these changes mirror
the transformation that parent company AIA Group Ltd has undergone in
the four years following its initial public
offering in Hong Kong, emerging as the
second largest life insurer globally by
market capitalisation.
As one employee aptly puts it, AIA
has a great legacy from its more than 90
years of experience and yet, it operates
with the kind of vigour and determination one usually sees in a newly created
company.
During its IPO in October 2010, AIA
set a clear vision to be the pre-eminent
life insurer in Asia-Pacific. Ambitious
targets were set across the Group, but
with it, there was also the strong desire
to create a new culture.
“We knew that in addition to clarity
about the WHAT that we wanted to
achieve; we needed to be equally clear
about HOW we would go about achiev-
PEOPLE DEVELOPMENT
“Our emphasis is on growing our people. AIA
is building for the long-term and is a platform
for people to grow themselves – to be more
than what they are today. People want to know
where the future is, where they are going.
There are lots of opportunities at AIA – they
can grow within Malaysia or in other countries.
We encourage mobility and have many examples of people moving from Group to Malaysia
and vice versa,” said Ng.
“We look for people who are smart,
dedicated and passionate about what
they are doing.” – Ng Keng Hooi, AIA
regional CEO
melting pot OF talent
Anusha Thavarajah was deputy
general manager of finance and
actuarial in AIA Bhd before she was
promoted to the role of regional
business development director in
AIA Group from Oct 1, 2014.
“Today, AIA Malaysia is a melting pot of key talent, not just from
within the industry but also other
related fields. Over the last two
years, the business went through a
transformation and as a result, created a unique identity that is today
the new AIA Malaysia.
“My biggest learning came from
working with those around me as
Paul Gerard Lim, director of human resources,
group HR division, on what AIA looks for in
new hires:
1. mental potential – ability to learn and
do more, with academic excellence as a
foundation
2. high ambition and action-oriented
3. EQ – the ability to connect with people
EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT
“We place a lot of importance on engagement. We want to ensure that everyone in
the organisation knows that they play a role
in developing and delivering what eventually
goes to the customer,” says Ng.
Speaking about the aftermath of the two
I was part of a truly great team.
Our success can be attributed to
our clarity of purpose, having the
courage and drive to be bold when
faced with roadblocks and finally,
the focus on our people – always
ensuring that they were in a good
space as they worked hard and
made sacrifices along the way.
“Our people helped get AIA
Malaysia to where it is today – an
organisation that is best described
as vibrant and filled with people
who want to make a difference,
not just from a business sense but
in terms of helping people,” says
Anusha.
Julie (fifth from right) during her time at AIA Malaysia
FROM BRUSSELS TO AMPANG
ing our business targets.
Creating a culture our people could
connect with was especially important
for our business, which is essentially
about people. We exist to help our
customers and their families achieve
financial security, even prosperity, and
we do this by understanding their needs
at different life stages.” said AIA group
regional CEO Ng Keng Hooi.
Cultivating a culture of meaningful
connections for AIA employees and
motivating them to do their best, combined with a clear execution focus has
contributed to four consecutive years of
record business results for AIA.
Julie Van Nuffel was part of AIA’s mobility programme and
joined AIA Malaysia in March 2014 to head its acceleration programme office. She recently returned to AIA Group to take on a
new senior leader role.
“I was excited but also a little scared when I was first offered
the opportunity to work in AIA Malaysia: it was a new role,
which came with high expectations. But there was also the very
compelling prospect of learning and developing.
“The Malaysia team’s dedication and resilience never fail to
impress me. Having delivered great results in 2014, while still
working on the final steps of a major integration, one can only
imagine the possibilities that lie ahead now that the team can
fully focus on the future. I hope that one day I can come back
and be part of that journey again.”
AIA: A NEW
GENERATION OF
LEADERS EMERGE
This track record of outperformance
and great ambitions have produced
leadership opportunities in the 17
markets in the Group’s portfolio, and is especially evident in
Malaysia where AIA Group saw
an opportunity to strengthen
its business.
“In Malaysia, we took great care in choosing the senior leadership team, always ensuring we had a good representation from
both companies with some of the best talents in the market. I
am very pleased that the new AIA has not only integrated well,
but delivered outstanding financial results in 2014,” said Ng
during a recent interview.
Malaysia Airlines tragedies last year, chief marketing officer Thomas Wong says, “Our people
showed leadership during this time – from
our life planners all the way to our employees
who processed claims. Our senior leaders also
made it a point to spend time with the family
members of those affected – just to be there
for them.”
Through various initiatives including its CSR
programme AIA Touching Lives, AIA Malaysia
encourages its employees to forge better connections by talking to customers and understanding their hopes and fears. “In this way,
our people become more engaged and know
how each of them in their own way plays an
important role in AIA,” says Wong.
Anusha and AIA group CEO and president Mark Tucker
Elmie (seated, fourth from right) and his team
the best of me always
9
Elmie Aman Najas was chief agency officer at AIA Bhd overseeing its Life Planner network in the Klang Valley before his
appointment to CEO of AIA PUBLIC Takaful Bhd in January 2015.
“My transition from senior leader to CEO was smooth
because of good succession planning and strong support
from AIA’s leadership team and employees.
“My advice to those with high ambition is that there is
opportunity every day for us to learn and give our best. “Seize
the opportunities as they come and always give your best.
“Do not overlook the importance of leadership. To climb up,
you must first show that you can lead.
“For me, the new AIA is relevant, in touch with the new generation and vibrant – there is strong optimism for the future.”
INTEGRATION STORY
The integration of AIA’s operations
in Malaysia followed AIA Group’s
acquisition of ING’s insurance
businesses in the country in 2012.
The integration in numbers
l 2.6 million customers
l 16,000 agency members
l 2,300 employees
l more than 100 operating systems
Bill Lisle, CEO of AIA Bhd, has led the
Malaysia team to undertake bold transformational moves in recent years.
“We agreed that we would provide
regular updates and communications
to all our customers, employees and
partners so they would hear news firsthand from the source and this would
help remove some of the uncertainties
for them. The word ’over-communicating’ did not exist for us!” said Lisle.
“We certainly did give special attention to the people aspect as we have
some of the best talent in the industry
and we didn’t want to lose them.
To alleviate some of the concerns, we
set out a clear vision for the company
from the start so everyone would have
a shared purpose. In addition, we constantly engaged with our employees
and sought their feedback so we could
understand how our people were feeling,” recalled Lisle.
Lisle stressed the need for employees
to be empowered. “We needed them to
feel confident about stepping up and
taking ownership. This in turn encouraged them to make business decisions
on their own, based on their knowledge
and experience, and built confidence
among the teams.”
“From the outset, we also stressed
that no individual is to be singled out to
take the blame; instead we focused on
finding solutions, quickly.”